Creating a Homeschool High School Transcript

You can create a homeschool high school transcript using the detailed step-by-step guide provided here. The end result will be an accurate and effective representation of what your home educated high school student has accomplished.

Does My Homeschool Student Need a High School Transcript?

Yes, all homeschooled students should have homeschool high school transcripts when they graduate. They are valuable tools that students can use toward future success.

Of course, they are usually required for college admission, but high school transcripts are often requested by employers, trade schools, military recruiters, apprenticeship programs, etc.

Homeschool High School Transcripts: When and How Do I Start?

Ideally, you should chat with your student before starting high school to form a 4-year plan. You'll find sample 4-year plans on our Homeschooling High School webpage.

Because the public school system does not certify homeschool high school transcripts or diplomas, it does not specify course content or credit requirements for a homeschooled high school student.

It may help you to view the State Department of Education's guidelines for public school students. However, you, as the homeschooling parent, will set the graduation requirements for your homeschool.

Even if your student has already progressed into the high school years, you can still complete the needed steps to gather the information you'll need for your student's transcript.

Homeschool High School Transcript Contents

Homeschool high school transcripts should contain all of the basic information about students that college admissions departments or potential employers would want to know.

• Student name, name of homeschool, address, and contact information
• Graduation date (this can be an expected date if the transcript is needed before graduation)
• Titles  of secondary and post-secondary level courses completed
• Credit values for each course
• Grades awarded for each course and an overall Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Extracurricular activities, volunteer experiences, leadership positions, awards and honors
• Parent signature with date

Homeschool High School Transcript Steps

• Step 1: List and Apply Names to Courses

Make a list of all of the coursework your student has completed each year. Include the curricula used. Include extracurriculars and independent study as well.

If your student completed high school level work before reaching 9th grade, you may include that. You may also include post-secondary work completed during your student's high school years.

Apply or create course names for the work your student has completed. Often, you'll just use the title supplied by the curricula you used, but try to make them parallel (e.g. Algebra 1, Algebra 2, etc.).

Organize this list by school year (e.g. 9th grade, 10th grade, etc.) or by subject (e.g. mathematics, science, etc.).

• Step 2: Assign Credits

Now you're ready to assign credits for your student's completed courses.

In general, a full-year course is worth one-credit and a half-year course is worth ½ credit.

Because homeschool instruction can occur outside of the traditional, you might assign credit for a specific amount of time devoted to a course. For example, the Carnegie Unit (one-credit) is defined as 120 hours of instruction.

If your daughter spent at least 60 hours in a ballet class, you might list that as ½ credit of physical education. If your son completed study of insects (including 60 hours of observation, collection, and research), you might list that as  ½ credit of entomology.

You can list at least 60 hours of active project work in a robotics club as a ½ credit of robotics, or 60 hours of singing in a homeschool choir as a ½ credit of choir. These would be considered electives and would count toward the total credit requirement.

Include driver education as a ½ credit course on your student's transcript as well.

If your student has completed college coursework during high school, in most cases a 3-credit-hour college course can be counted as  one high school credit.

INSIDER TIP:
Avoid cluttering the transcript with too many listed electives.

You can aim toward a target of between 22-24 credits of total coursework on your student's transcript, but, of course, each individual student's situation is different.

• Step 3: Enter Grades

Now, list grades for your student's completed courses. Grades will often be generated by the curricula you use.

In most cases, you will determine course grades by daily work and scores on quizzes and tests. For special courses, grades can be set according to how many successful projects are completed.

• Step 4: Figure Grade Point Averages

You're ready to figure your student's grade point average (GPA) now.

First you'll need a grading scale. A 4-point grading scale is commonly used.

A = 4.0
A- = 3.7,
B+ + 3.3
B = 3.0
B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C = 2.0

Take the course credit times the grade point your student earned, and you'll have the grade point for that course.

For example, if your daughter completed a full year of Algebra 1 and earned a B+ grade, you'll take 1.0 (the credit weighting for a full-year course) times 3.3 (the grade equivalent for a B+). Her grade point for Algebra 1 is 3.3.

If your son earned a C in his 1/2 credit entomology study course, you'll take 1/2 credit times the 2.0 grade equivalent for the C and come out with 1.0 for the course grade point.

After you figure the grade points for all of your student's courses, add them all up. This is your student's grade point total.

Next, add up all of the course credit hours your student has completed.

Now, take your student's grade point total and divide it by the course credit hour total.

This number is your student's overall grade point average (GPA).

• Step 5: Put Content into a High School Transcript Form

Your transcript should be organized, easy-to-read, and arranged in format familiar to college admissions staff or potential employers.

Many colleges now require a “syllabus” section, with descriptions of each core course. We advise you to write these descriptions while your student is taking each course. If you are using a packaged curricula or a textbook, a brief description of these will usually suffice.

High School Transcript Template

Homeschool Iowa has created two high school transcript template forms, one organized by school years and the other organized by subject.

These fillable (type-in) transcript template forms – along with samples to show you to fill them out and figure GPA – are available on our member portal page. Not a member?